After Hamlet loses hope in Ophelia, he turns on humanity as a whole and exposes how humans are natural sinners born to destroy and be corrupt. He springs on Ophelia, commanding her to “get thee to a nunnery” five separate times (3. 1. 130.). Though at first glance this appears to be another insult on her apparent impurity, in actuality he is begging her to escape the corruptive cycle of marriage and humanity. If she was to become a nun, she would never make a “[monster]” out of a husband and she could never be a “breeder of sinners” (3. 1. 148., 3. 1. 131.). Hamlet truly does believe that humans are inherently evil and that in order for the world to return to how God intended it, the human race must cease to exist. He uses himself as an example, saying that he is “very proud, …show more content…
1. 153.). Essentially, humans play God and make their own flawed creations out of what God himself had made. Hamlet rejects these foolish habits of humanity, demanding that there will be “no more marriages” to let the human race be cleansed from the Earth (3. 1. 156.). He turns to Ophelia and tells her that “if thou dost marry, [he’ll] give [her] this plague for [her]/ dowey; be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt/ not escape calumny” (3. 1. 144-146.). There’s no escape from the ruin humanity brings, even if she does no wrong. Ultimately, every child will fall to sin, so if Ophelia does choose to marry and have children, she will have to marry a “fool” of a man who doesn’t understand this (3. 1. 143.). Hamlet refuses to be such a fool, since he understands the core nature of humanity without God’s perfection. Hamlet’s turning on humanity as a whole and marking it off as corrupted and wicked shows how he sees nothing but corruption in his and other’s
One primary example which proves the insanity behind Hamlet’s loss of love for Ophelia is when he berates her for being a pawn of her father. During his encounter with Ophelia, Hamlet states that, “If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry. Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, go. Farewell” (x).
Women have been dominated and manipulated by men for many years. In Hamlet, the character Ophelia was living under the demands of her father. She didn’t actually decide anything for herself. She obeyed every demand she received from her father Polonius because for her it was a form of loyalty. When Polonius was killed by Hamlet, she became vulnerable since she no longer had the person who decided everything for her.
A straightforward reading of this scene would reveal that this outburst is due to Hamlet’s pent up anger at his mother’s relationship with his uncle, and he is expressing this anger at an inopportune moment towards Ophelia. Even though some of his anger in this moment is truly directed towards Ophelia, the notion that she is pregnant in this scene makes his words more abrasive and misogynistic. As he says “Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” (3.1.122-123), he takes on an accusatory tone. He places blame solely on Ophelia, even though if she is pregnant, he would also be at fault.
Firstly, knowing the court was filled with corruption and deceit, Hamlet did his best to protect Ophelia from the dangers of the court. From the very beginning, he continually voices his distrust in various court members. One one such occasion , he tells Ophelia in a supposedly private conversation, “We are all arrant knaves believe none of us,” (3.1.139-140).
Hamlet's views on love could be ruined because of his mother's relationship with his father and how she got over him so quickly and married his uncle Claudius. Hamlet is also protecting Ophelia from getting hurt with his plans of revenge or protecting her from his uncle knowing he would use her as a way of hurting him. Hamlet shows his love for Ophelia in many different ways throughout the play. the first way Hamlet shows his love towards Ophelia is with
Hamlet once again fails to understand that Ophelia much like himself is only trying to stay loyal to her father, much like what he is doing himself. In addition, Hamlet blames woman for giving birth to such evil and deceiving men like Claudius and himself. When he was talking to Ophelia he told her "Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better
He resents his mother because she did not hesitate to remarry immediately following the passing of King Hamlet; in Hamlet’s eyes, she cannot live independently because she is a fragile, powerless woman as all women are. Hamlet says, after complaining about Gertrude’s hasty remarriage, “frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2 150). His judgment of his mother’s character led to his generalization of all women being frail and helpless. Hamlet extends this judgment to his evaluation of Ophelia’s character. He believes that because she is female, she must be deceitful and adulterous.
Ophelia goes mad throughout the story. She is overwhelmed by the loss of her father and the rejection of Hamlet. Her character is seen spiraling down a dark path that also ends in death. Ophelia is depicted as not having control over her actions; speaking and acting erratically. While Hamlet is speaking erratically and behaving oddly, he still maintains control over his actions and movement throughout the story.
Ophelia is grieving the loss of her father after Hamlet kills him. Ophelia doesn't know that Hamlet killed her father. But Ophelia has gone mad from learning about her father's death. Also, after Hamlet telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery, Ophelia is a little bit discouraged. She is discouraged because Hamlet had told her before that if Ophelia would sleep with him that they would get married.
Hamlet confesses to Ophelia, “If thou dost marry, I'll give thee this plague/ for thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as/ pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a/ nunnery”(pg.66, 136-139). Within the
For the duration of the play, Ophelia was portrayed as a naïve and submissive woman. Her passivity and powerlessness reinforce the voicelessness of women during the Elizabethan era. For example, “I shall obey, my lord” (I.iii.134) shows that Ophelia concedes to her father’s will, even though she believes Hamlet’s love is genuine. She is willing and expected to obey her father despite the fact that she still loves Hamlet, which emphasizes her character’s submissive nature. Furthermore, in Act I Laertes warns Ophelia that it would be shameful of her to love Hamlet, and she responds with “I shall the effect of this good lesson keep as a watchman to my heart” (I.iii.45).
As a young woman of the 1600’s Ophelia is most likely unaware of the patriarchy that shadows above her. “I do not know my lord, what should I think?”. Ophelia is so unsure about her affair with Hamlet that she
Hamlet does not value Ophelia 's feelings he belittles her. In Hamlets defense this is the way he was brought up to treat women, during that time this was a common way to treat a women. Even though in today 's society it is not at all ok to treat women with such disrespect. He also likes for everything to go as planned and this may result in why he can not have a stable relationship with a woman. This also causes him to have many stumbling blocks in his life that causes some emotional pain
As the rising action continues Hamlet attacks those around him such as when he states to Ophelia, “If thou dost marry, I 'll give thee this plague for thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery.” (III.i.136-138) On his search for justice, Hamlet has lost all love for the girl he once loved and no longer wants anything to deal with her. For this reason, Hamlet represents a dynamic character as he changes to this cruel and violent person who has lost all trust in people.
This is encapsulated in Hamlet exclaims, “frailty, thy name is woman!” about his mother’s hasty marriage to her deceased husband’s brother (Shakespeare 1.2.150). In this quote, Hamlet is dismissing all women as weak-willed like he believes Gertrude to be, which affects his interactions with Ophelia also. Hamlet is cruel to her because of this anger he has towards women in general, so when pretending to be mad, he goes “full force in the misogynist rage” when telling her he used to love her, but now she should go to a nunnery (Traub 192). Ophelia can be seen as weak in this scene because she protests little against Hamlet and only hopes that his insanity will end.